Birding in the Gulbenkian Gardens, Lisbon

Lisbon in October was hot in the afternoon and when I first visited the renowned Gulbenkian Museum and Gardens in the afternoon, the weather was HOT, over30C and there were few birds to be seen in the lovely gardens. So I returned on another morning at 730am when it was much cooler and more active bird activity. Oh..and the Egyptian antiquities were very interesting…not so sure about the modern art section though….

A little walk at 7am to Russi Square to start the day

Lovely grounds of the Gulbenkian Museum

The ducks were out in force…

The ducks were active in the little streams

European Blackbird

Female blackbird

Goose-stepping moorhen

Moorhen in action

And then in a little gap in the trees, something stirred…

A splendid Egyptian Goose!

The bamboo copses were pretty

as were the water features

white wagtail

grey wagtail

A chiffchaff flitted about

And very active in a tree was this short toed treecreeper

beautifully camouflaged short-toed treecreeper

a wren

and this little brown and black guy was incredibly active and barely paused long enough for a shot…A Cetti’s Warbler..thanks to Richard White for ID.

the Feral pigeons were the largest I’ve ever seen!

the flora of the gardens was also pretty..with red berries..

and black berries…

The Gulbenkian Gardens and Museum are definitely worth a visit….the birding is much better in the morning though.